In addition to the ubiquitous bank credit cards, in recent years, the use of subway entry cards known as a METROCARD .sub.SM has become widespread, particularly in New York City mass transport system. Such subway entry cards are similar in shape to conventional bank cards but thinner and more flexible and have a strip portion magnetically encoded with information such as residual value, expiry date, etc., extending along one longitudinal edge portion. In use, the longitudinal edge portion carrying the encoded strip portion is inserted into a slot of a reading head at the turnstile and slid (swiped) therealong by a user clasping the opposite longitudinal edge portion of the card.
Commuters usually need to make the card available for use to enter the subway at least twice, and often, as many as four or more times each day during their daily commute, but must also carry the card securely on their person at all other times as, apart from the time consuming inconvenience of loss, requiring a purchase at crowded peak times, the card does not identify the purchaser and, consequently, no refund of the, often substantial, residual card value can be obtained.
In recognition of the need to carry the card securely on the person, a small aperture for receiving a security chain or ring is formed in the card at a location spaced inwardly of the magnetic strip. However, in practice, the presence of the chain or ring often obstructs full entry and movement of the card along the slot of the reading head so that the inconvenience of removing the card from the chain or ring and reattachment thereto immediately before and after each use remains.
An additional card handling problem arises from the thinness and flexibility of the card which can lead to difficulties in removal from flat pockets of conventional flat sleeve or frame type holders. In one proposed solution, a commercial holder dedicated to the METROCARD .sub.SM provides a protective card receiving sleeve or frame-form pocket formed with an extended thumb receiving notch through which a user's thumb can engage the face of the card to facilitate sliding withdrawal from the pocket. Another commercial holder taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,898 and dedicated to the METROCARD .sub.SM provides a flat, card receiving pocket having a system map attached thereto.
However, both of the latter two proposals incur the inconvenience of requiring complete removal of the card from the holder each time of use while neither provides for securement of the holder to the person.
Other holders are taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,767 issued January 1997 to Treske and U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,543 issued 1980 to McKee but those are for displaying identification cards or documents. Although both have some form of releasable attachment means they also teach containment of the entire card or paper wholly within the holder and are not suitable for the purpose of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,263,352 issued to Fitzpatrick in 1964 teaches a holder for outgoing mail while protecting against inclement weather, and is clearly unsuitable for the purpose of the invention.